bad. On the trail in Columbia a woman was murdered, and
they've had some robberies too. Our objection is the way they
took the land, but we have some personal concerns as well."
Studies indicate that trails are no less secure than other areas
of human use and cause no increase in crime. Seattle law officers
pointed out that problems in park areas are usually related to
easy automobile access, which is not available on that city's
Burke-Gilman Trail. A long-term study of the Appalachian
Trail, which passes through both rural areas and small towns,
revealed impressively low crime statistics considering the vol
ume of people who use the facility.
"If a corridor runs through a city, you've got to remember
you're still in a city," I was told by city planner Bob Mosher in
path-conscious Raleigh, North Carolina.
"Our statistics indicate you're probably safer on a green
way than in most areas. People with a criminal mind-set don't
usually frequent places like that."
GREENWAYS in New York City? A two-tour Vietnam vet
eran has already mapped one. "Not many people
realize that New York has 40,000 acres of parks, and
a greenway is a way of pulling them all together,"
said Tom Fox, a Brooklynite who calls himself an open-space
hustler. "Besides, there are tremendous cultural opportunities
along the way. I love the diversity in this city."
Following sidewalks, existing bike paths, and streets when
necessary, Fox mapped a 40-mile bike route from Brooklyn's
Coney Island to Queens' Fort Totten. We began at Coney Island
and were soon riding on the wide sidewalk along Ocean Park
way heading north, Fox a rolling monologue of local highlights.
"See the Russian restaurants? This area is popular with Rus
sian emigr6s ... iron grillwork, we've entered an Italian neigh
borhood ... now Jewish temples .. . here's Prospect Park!
Olmsted considered it his best combination of woods, water, and
a meadow more than a mile long . . let's stop for a walk
through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. . . ."
Our passage through a down-at-the-heel neighborhood with
boarded-up windows and bored-looking residents only added to
his optimism: "A greenway allows these people to get out to
other areas, just as it allows us to get into theirs," he insisted.
Decaying urban neighborhoods are actually aiding creation of
useful open space in New York and other cities. Across town in
the Bronx, Rob Feder of the Trust for Public Land (TPL)
walked me through vacant lots covered with weeds and trash.
"During fiscal crises in the 1970s a lot of property reverted to
the city through tax foreclosures," he said. "These areas will
come back some day," he added, as we crunched over broken
glass and dried dog scat. "As development pressures mount, we
are working with other groups to preserve green oases for people
to enjoy. They make a city livable."
TPL is also aiding in the creation of the Bronx River Trail
way, a recreational use of now derelict stretches of waterfront.
Nationwide, the organization helps form local land trusts to
purchase open space. In Ohio, for example, TPL is helping an
effort to tie together the cities of Cleveland and Akron with a
THE BRONX
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"SQUEENS
Prosper Brooklyn
QUEENS
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Park
Botanic
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BRO OKLYN A
OCEAN
PARKWAY
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TRAIL
ISLAND
Existing
BROOKLYN/QUEENS
GREENWAY
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Proposed
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4km
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4mi
Courting attention, young
Brooklynites stroll Ocean Park
way on the Jewish Sabbath.
Famed landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted, consid
ered the father ofgreenways,
designed this "shaded pleasure
drive" in the 1860s as an
approach to his new creation,
526-acre Prospect Park.
Extending his vision, the
Brooklyn/Queens Greenway
(map) will cross Long Island by
1995, joining 13 parks and such
landmarks as Shea Stadium
and the Brooklyn Museum.
For further information on
greenway development write:
AMERICAN GREENWAYS
1800 North Kent Street
Suite 1120
Arlington, Virginia 22209
Greenways: Paths to the Future